My family is calling it "nesting"...I'm calling it "this was supposed to be a temporary living situation and now I'm staying longer and no way in heck am I living with people's skeevy hoarder mess."

My Mom isn't really a hoarder in like the typical sense...but she definitely has hoarder tendencies and just does not bother to throw stuff out (I'm not talking about like "garbage" food, etc...but old mail, cords to things we no longer have, the manuals to the past 9 toasters we've owned, every single birthday card ever, toys I don't even remember having but apparently have some sentimental value...)

Over the weekend I went through most of the kitchen drawers, a secretary in our living room, a hutch in the dining room, and threw out at least 5-10 large garbage bags of mostly old papers and a plethora of other junk, as well as gathered a set of plastic drawers + another drawer full of stuff for a yard sale.

It hasn't made a dent. Any tips for stuff like pots/pans/pantry organizing...winter coat/accessory storage/organizing...laundry room organization....ETC. Links to good sites or articles on it, pictures of your own super organized houses, and so on.

__________________
"My favorite color is green, green like newly cut grass. When it comes to green with envy, though, you can stick it up your @ss!" ~ Grammy

OMG my dads house is the same way. My stepmom is like your mom - not really a "hoarder" per say but just... crap is always everywhere. And I am NOT the neatest person in the world but it drives me NUTS.

We still have boxes upstairs from when we moved in. And tons of storage bins of my bro's old toys sitting in the loft upstairs, when it could be made sooo nice.

I don't really wanna take the time to try and make it better because whenever I clean, etc, it just gets bad again the next day.

No suggestions, sorry. I wouldn't touch anything in my parents' house--it's theirs. It was a huge relief to have my own house that I could organize to my standards of neatness! Hopefully the stars align and you can find your own place before too long.

Can you at least have an area that is comfortable for you? I know in my parents' home, I hated the dining room (the catch all for everything) and wouldn't step foot in any bedroom but my own because the chaos drove me insane. I had my own room though that was tidy and sparse and made me happy.

I'm not planning on moving out any time soon. There's no financial reason or any reason like that as to why I can't...I don't want to. For one, I have a seizure history, and I'm not comfortable being alone with an infant full time, and a lot of time I can't go out by myself because of medical issues. Secondly, even if my health was better, there isn't really any good reason for me to move out. I live completely rent free with people who I get along with better than I'd get along with most roommates, and I wouldn't live alone even if I could afford it, I'd rather have other people around.

__________________
"My favorite color is green, green like newly cut grass. When it comes to green with envy, though, you can stick it up your @ss!" ~ Grammy

All I can say is good luck and work on little goals - one closet/area at a time.

Make it quick - garbage, donate, keep and the keep must have a place to go right there and then too - no 'I'm going to keep it but have no place for it' sorta thing.

Keep in mind you can hang on to the 'donate' and 'toss' for a few days in case you change your mind, that makes it easier to dump things out and go quickly through something.

Also have in mind a 'reasonable' number for things - like for one person, do you really, really, really need 20 bath towels, or would 5-6 do depending on how you do things (we reuse towels a few times here, some people are grossed out by that and wash them every time). That helps with the cut.

Can't fix it. Have your area and keep it clean and be happy. You clean it and they will fill it back up. My mom is bad with clutter, Horrible. I know how it is She will forever live out of boxes and save cvatalogs for years for no reason.

__________________

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain
dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few
persons -James Thurber

Gotta agree with Joce on this one. If it really is that kind of hoarderish "need to keep ALL THE THINGS" mentality...no matter how much you throw out, they are going to fill it up. Especially if they aren't part of the cleaning process themselves

I suggest finding your spaces,sectioning off and cleaning within those spaces.

That said, with a baby on the way, I would suggest a long hard talk with the family. Babies need space, kids pick things up and put it in their mouths.. Talk to them about their living habits, do a big family clean up and then work on KEEPING things clean. Focus on what you actually NEED and what all that useless stuff is really doing.

Simple house rules. Use hooks, baskets, boxes... everything has a place. You get ONE large bin each for keepsakes/cards etc... make a schedule for cleaning and organizing.

__________________

Disclaimer: I work for Trupanion and love it/our policy! But I do not speak for the company or as the company.

Now if its moldy food in the fridge, and cat poop on the floor you have an issue. That I would get after them about. But your still likely to not get anywhere.

I remember being so mad at my mom when I was little. I think this is why I am so assertive and have control issues now. I would just throw everything in bags and put it in her room and house was clean. But then it would be a mess and then her room was already full.

I watch hoarders now and think how lucky I am when I called my mom a hoarder because she really is just a pack rat. I could live with her again.

__________________

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain
dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few
persons -James Thurber

I think you guys are missing the point of this thread I'm really not looking for advice on handling my family dynamics or where I should be living.

Example: Right now my george foreman grill and some other appliances are stored on my dining room table. I would LIKE to put them in a cabinet or pantry, but those are filled with things like cake pans and pitchers, serving trays, and so on. It's all stuff we use on a regular basis, so getting rid of some of it isn't very practical. We have a hanging rack for pots and pans, but it doesn't seem to do much.

Also, where do people keep stuff like their paper towels, things they buy in bulk, etc. My kitchen floor has stuff along the lines of paper cups, a big box of plasticware, jugs of juice, just kind of stacked up or sitting on the floor. Our kitchen isn't that small, either...it seems like we should have a lot more storage space then we actually do.

Like Fran, your tips on everything having a bin or hook is helpful...but where the heck do I put the bins? And we have very little wall space (lots of half walls and huge windows) so it's hard to find a place for hooks, too.

And the laundry room is a mess. Partially because it doubles as storage, and we keep extra blankets and stuff down there...but IDK. Like when we have baskets of laundry, we went up just haphazardly stacking the baskets. We have a clothesline, too, which is completely impractical because it runs over our front loading washer/dryer, and there's no room to hang anything longer than a short tank top or underwear. So stuff like how you organize your laundry room, store out-of-season clothing, etc.

I need links to really useful good housekeeping articles.

__________________
"My favorite color is green, green like newly cut grass. When it comes to green with envy, though, you can stick it up your @ss!" ~ Grammy

Our kitchen is pretty small - but we have a pantry where I store things like paper towels, napkins ect. as well as bulk foods, apples, potatoes, onions ect. (theres a small window, it's pretty cold in there).
We went through our kitchen not to long ago and got rid of ALOT of things too. We had way too little storage space and way too many things in our cabinets. So we went through things and got rid of stuff we hadn't used for a while (and never will use).
Also organizing your kitchen space is worth so so so much. If you put a little dynamic into your cabinets, you'll have way more storage space

Edit:
I was just asked how many ears a dog has. Apparently two is not the correct answer.

__________________

You are the whisper in the wind, and the silence in dark.
You are the autumn rain, and the spring flowers.
You are the joy when I laugh, and the sorrow when I cry.
You are the earth beneath my feet, and the air in the skyBut most of all, you are my heart. Run free, Beautiful Girl.